The Snow Mouse (Ears Mouse)

Artie Edmonds

Ears Mouse, Book 2

Ears Mouse woke up with a shiver, 'Brrrrrrrrrr' he said to himself, 'I am in my nice bed with my big quilt but I am still cold, specially my nose'. His nose was almost as red as Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer's nose. He had his night cap on his head to keep his ears warm and had also put some extra blankets on top of his quilt, as he had thought that it might be cold that night. He looked at his clock on his bedside table, it said 8:45 - yet he could not see any light shining through his curtains as it normally did at that time of morning.

Ears Mouse counted 1- 2 - 3 and then jumped out of bed, ran over to his door, grabbed his dressing gown and put it on as quick as he could. He then went over to his window and opened the curtains. All he could see through his window was white stuff, like very thick fog. He decided that he better light his fire to make his house feel a bit warmer. Using some old newspaper and some twigs, Ears Mouse tried to get a fire going but each time a good flame went up the chimney a big drop of water would come down the chimney and put the fire out. Ears Mouse thought that he would have to go outside to investigate. So he go dressed very quickly and put on his warmest coat, his wellies, gloves and scarf. He opened his front door and walked out into the fog - or at least he tried to. Ears Mouse bounced back into his house and landed on his bottom on the floor. It then struck him - it was not fog, it was snow. He now realised what had happened, 'it must have snowed very heavily last night and has blocked my chimney, door and windows' he thought to himself.

Ears Mouse was very worried now, 'how am I going to get out?' he wondered, 'I do not have much food left in my larder as I was planning to gather some more food today'. He though that he had better start to dig himself out just in case the snow did not melt for a few days, so he got his shovel from the cupboard in the kitchen and stuck it in the snow in his doorway. 'Hang on', he thought, 'where am I going to put the snow that I dig out'. He realised that he would have to put it into his house. After a while Ears Mouse had snow all around him and felt like he was standing in a freezer. He was starting to feel very cold indeed.

Outside things looked a little bit better. Harry Hedgehog had been looking for some nice juicy grubs that morning and had raised the alarm when he saw what had happened to Ears Mouse's house. During the night the snow had blown along the lane and the strong wind had made a snow drift all over Ears Mouse's house. Many of Ears Mouse's friends were now discussing what they could do to help get him out of his snow covered house. There was too much snow for the animals to shift using just spades and shovels. 'We could ask Donald Donkey to stamp on the snow to make it smaller', said Harry Hedgehog. 'No, that would be too dangerous' said Sid Squirrel, 'Ears Mouse may be digging his way out and he could get stamped on'. 'I have an idea', said Molly Mole, 'I could try and make a hole through the snow'. 'Molly, have you ever burrowed through snow before?' asked Freddie Frog. 'No', replied Molly, 'but is should be much the same as burrowing through the earth , just a bit colder. 'I think it's a great idea', said Sid Squirrel, 'does everyone agree?'. Everyone agreed it was the best plan so far.

Molly prepared herself for her journey through the snow. Sid Squirrel loaned her his bobble hat which she wore on her nose to help keep it warm. Harry Hedgehog loaned her his sweater, even though it was full of holes from his spiky spines.

Molly started to dig through the cold snow and luckily it was not too hard. Meanwhile, back in Ears Mouse's house, it was now very cold and Ears Mouse was starting to look a bit blue. He had not managed to get very far through the snow before his shovel's handle had broken. He was now using his hands to dig his way through the snow but it was so cold he could not feel his fingers. Standing back from the snow, to have a rest, Ears Mouse though he was starting to see things. He could see a red blob in the snow and it was getting bigger and bigger. It was the red bobble hat on Molly Mole's nose that was poking through the snow and soon after Ears Mouse could see Molly's head. 'Molly, am I glad to see you?', said Ears Mouse, 'I was just about to freeze if I had to stay in here any longer'. He gave Molly a hug and then followed Molly back through the hole.

There was a loud round of applause when Molly Mole and Ears Mouse both climbed out of the snow tunnel. All Ears Mouse's friends gather round and gave him a big hug. Sid Squirrel put a big warm blanket around Ears Mouse's shoulders and Harry Hedgehog gave him a hot water bottle, being careful not to make a hole in it from his spikes. They all went back to Harry Hedgehog' place as he had lit a big fire.

Ears Mouse sat beside the fire drinking a lovely mug of vegetable soup and was soon feeling much much warmer.

Harry Hedgehog's house was so warm that the other animals decided to go outside and build a snowman - well actually a snow mouse like their friend Ears Mouse.

THE END

©2007 Artie Edmonds

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